What most writers forget is that they take for granted a great many aspects which can lend more credence to their works, as well as a better experience of the story they want to put forward to readers. Additionally, if you want to be considered historically accurate, you must behave as a historian–do you due diligence. Can it always be done? Some things might slip past you. No human is perfect. Try your best. This series is going to help by presenting articles of interest from around the internet and get you started on the research necessary to complete an amazing manuscript.

Grants and Funding

Doing the research for your next historical fiction sounds like amazing fun. You’re so excited about your idea and you get right to work. The days are filled with light and joy. Then, it hits you. That roadblock to finishing your project, the one you hope doesn’t rise up every time you get down to business, but never fails but to arrive midway through the work, or toward the end making it impossible to continue. You’ve got something you need to research, but you can’t find anything on it and the one place you could find something about it is on the other side of the Earth.

You could just totally flub it. Why not? You are, after all, writing fiction. That would be your purview. However, that said, how many best selling authors flubbed it? How many authors who rank in the top tier of their field or genre stopped at this point and said, well fuck it, I’m going to make shit up. Certainly, throughout the writing process in regards to historical works, we’re making a lot up–I mean who really knows what Marie Antionette said to her cousin on the fifth of April, 1762? We were not there, and documentation of events isn’t quite so thorough. So we’re filling in. In that case, we might see justification in just fudging the history a bit to get around the wall we find ourselves staring down. That, however, is shaky integrity.

That said, what if you could get to the place you need to go to find out the information you need to finish up your book with integrity? I’m sure you’re about to say, but I can’t afford all these trips to places, or materials to do this. This is too much. I thought I could just write my story and be done.

Absolutely you can. It is always your decision in the end, as to how you will handle your material and the history you chose to write about. That said, there are those who will want to do the utmost and they may be hard pressed to finagle trips for research because they have a day job and funding is a limiting factor.

Have you heard of Funds for Writers? Well, you have now. They’re a website dedicated to finding funding for your writing projects. Not all of us are keen on the Go Fund Me begging for money to write a book trend. Even though we know in our heart that this is about getting what we need to finish our work, we regard it as begging. Most of the funds come from average Joes and that leaves us unsettled. How can we beg for money from our peers and others with as little cash flow as our own? Funds for Writers can help you get around that concern by offering you information on getting grants. Grants are money set up by either the government or private interest groups to fund specific projects. In other words, people with money are looking to give it to people who have a project and help support that creation. Grant writing is a bit of a hurdle, I will admit. It has kept me from reaching out to apply for such funds. You have to know what you’re doing. It’s just like applying for a job. Then, there is the tracking of expenses and keeping detailed records of your work and research and everything. It sounds like a lot and some do this as a job. However, for writing, these are small grants and I am sure you can hang onto your receipts and make a log. Have faith in yourself. You’re a writer. You couldn’t have gotten this far if you didn’t know how to organize and track. You do it every day with your books.

So go check out Funds for Writers and see what tips and assistance you can find for your project. Don’t give up and flub it.

Let’s talk about permission next time. For now, best wishes!

If you’d like more installments of Writing Historical Fiction and have a topic you’d like discussed, leave me a comment below or send me a contact message (top right) and I will do my best to address it on the blog.

What most writers forget is that they take for granted a great many aspects which can lend more credence to their works, as well as a better experience of the story they want to put forward to readers. Additionally, if you want to be considered historically accurate, you must behave as a historian–do you due diligence. Can it always be done? Some things might slip past you. No human is perfect. Try your best. This series is going to help by presenting articles of interest from around the internet and get you started on the research necessary to complete an amazing manuscript.

Citations

Cite your sources. That is my first nugget of advice in this installment of Writing Historical Fiction. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you’re going to quote, directly or indirectly, you must provide information about the source from which you got that quote/information. If you fail to do so, you are plagiarizing. Plagiarism is a very serious issue, of which, it has more recently come to my attention, younger writers seem to be ignorant. I’m not calling them stupid, not by any means. The information, for some reason or another, has not been provided to them.

Citing sources in foot/endnotes was a loose part of my coursework through high school. It wasn’t all that hammered in by my undergraduate professors either. Amazing! You see, so this is why a lot of people have no idea what they’re doing as far as citing sources in a publication. Whether it is journal, blog, newspaper, book or whatever publication, you must always cite sources. As an author, I took it upon myself to pay attention to the warnings that I had received. They served me well, but I can see how the lack of emphasis upon citations has affected many in their careers and education goals. Several times a year students all across the country are brought up on plagiarism charges. Most are copying work from other students or downloading documents online. Some have no clue this is wrong, most don’t care because they want to skirt the work.

When I did research for any of my coursework and books, I took notes in a separate word document. The header of each section was the bibliographic citation of the work in which I was taking notes, followed by quoted snippets and page numbers. Each source was handled in this manner, keeping everything nice and neat.

How did I do the bibliographic citations? Remember my entry on Libraries (17)? I spoke briefly about using Flow. There are a number or services available to you online. They do cost, but they’re worth the cost, as they help keep you from getting sued later for plagiarism. Some software may be available for download, so you don’t have to remember another sign on. I recommend shopping around and finding a product that suits your need. Do you need just a bibliography tracker? Perhaps you would like one that manages your notes as well. There are choices that can provide you with all of that.

So you have your bibliography manager. Did you know that in most cases you can open up a book’s page online and press a button to include it like the snap of a finger into your bibliography? No fuss, no muss. It’s a great feature offered by Flow. Then you can export your list to a word document and use each listing, as I mentioned above, as a header for your notes. Your reading might be slowed by taking notes while you read, but I found it helped reinforce the information. If you are more comfortable with flagging the page, or dog-earing the corner and highlighting, that is cool too. You might be using a kindle, and you can make notes right on the kindle and export those out.

So, you might be wondering, what do I need to cite? Any direct quotes will require a citation note. Those are the ones you find in quotations marks, just to be clear. Simply copying and pasting a line without quotes will not remove the need to cite that source. That is exactly what plagiarism is. You cannot do this and, unfortunately, many students make the mistake. They also believe that if you change a couple words via thesaurus, that it’s altering the sentence enough to make it their own. That is also untrue. You would still need to cite it with a note.

When you completely overhaul an idea into all new words to explain it, I often cite these as well, because the idea is something that you took from someone else. Plagiarism is a very serious issue in writing and an author should do all they can to avoid committing such a faux pas. The act is considered a crime and will impact your integrity for the rest of your career. It is so serious that almost all professors check your paper against a database to be sure you’re not stealing, regardless of who you are. You will get caught. So, when in doubt, cite it out. Though this might lead to an extensive amount of notes, you can’t be accused of stealing. If you feel your paper is suffering from too many notes, that is considered lazy writing in academics. It’s okay if you’re looking at an early draft. You’re still working on your ideas, and a cluster of notes can show you where you need to work more. It is not worth your degree or career to plagiarize.

If you have further questions on citing your sources, check out Plagiarism.org’s section on citing. They can give you an expert rundown of all that you’ll need to do to avoid the mistake.

Stay tuned as I explore looking for grants for writing in an upcoming edition.

Please refer to the following works regarding citations and bibliography:

What most writers forget is that they take for granted a great many aspects which can lend more credence to their works, as well as a better experience of the story they want to put forward to readers. Additionally, if you want to be considered historically accurate, you must behave as a historian–do you due diligence. Can it always be done? Some things might slip past you. No human is perfect. Try your best. This series is going to help by presenting articles of interest from around the internet and get you started on the research necessary to complete an amazing manuscript.

Libraries

It’s the honest truth. Libraries are still the go to resource for finding materials to back up your writing. You cannot do all your research online. There simply is too much information that is unregulated floating around out there. Remember the previous post with the video about the internet? Good.

Part of being a historical fiction writer is going to a library–or, if you have the resources to invest, you can build your own. If you’re lucky enough to live in a town that has a decent university library, then you’re all set and can save yourself a lot of cash. Go get that library card. Most universities will allow locals access to their library. You can call ahead to be sure.

Another feature that is available is online libraries and mail lending. Have you met Open Library? Before you again attempt to rely on this limited resource, the best thing you can do is get a real library card and go to a real library. Any professor or other professional researcher will agree. If you’re here to learn tips for cutting corners, then your work will reflect corner cutting. You simply will have to accept the fact that beating feet on the street is still the best method available to you. Certainly, you can borrow a book and bring it home for several days, make copies of important pages and take extensive notes.

The reason I emphasize going to the library and spending some time is that you can quickly vet books by looking at the fly leafs, and then looking for the information you seek inside of them. They may be perfectly legitimate resources, but have little to no information on the specifics you seek. You can’t do that online. Online articles are usually only an introduction to the topic. My advice for anyone writing historical fiction: Over Learn Your Topic. Learn everything about it, even if it’s a side issue. Why? because when you go to write, you will be a confident expert on your topic and it will show! Besides, you’d be surprised what nuggets of information you can find in a book that may seem slightly off topic from where you were digging. I’ve had this happen numerous times and now expect to add these sidebars into my research as regular work. You should too. You can never learn too much about that which you write. Why? do you remember the old adage: write what you know? You certainly can’t write about what you don’t know and if you only know some of a topic, you can only write somewhat about it. That won’t make for a very good book.

Did you know that some libraries are networked? It’s true! If you’re a student or card holder at a SUNY college/university, you can access the libraries of all the other schools to find the material you need. Ask your librarian about this intralibrary loan service at your library. While you’re there, ask if they have a mail service and online catalog you can access from home.

To maintain your bibliography while you’re working, look into a number of services online that will help you to enter the information nearly automatically. If you can find a virtual listing of the book you’re working with, for example, on amazon, then you can usually click a link/button and it adds the listing to your bibliography. Working on several projects? You can organize your bibliography according to each project—in separate folders/lists. Here is a Wiki that lists some, which may or may not still be in service. I use Flow and love it.

Why do you need such a tool? Because, it often happens that you need to get that book back, because you need to go over something again. Or, you’re marketing your book to agents and editors–although you’d think an editor would not quibble over the format of a bibliography, they will. Agents and editors want to see that you’re a professional. A clean and well ordered bibliography is necessary. And, if you’re seeking an editor to work on your book, having them skip the appendix can save you some money, and they can skip it if you’ve been using a formatting software intended to do the work. Be sure you know proper citations, as well, if you intend to use end notes or footnotes (let’s visit this topic more in depth at another time).

Now that you have a library card and a bibliography manager, you’re all set to start building your resources. But what about visiting actual historic locations? Stick around, because I’ll be writing about them soon, too.

Please refer to the following works regarding research materials and research tools:

Have a topic you’d like discussed on writing historical fiction? Leave me a message and I will do my best to get to it.

Well, duh! I know that.

What most writers forget is that they take for granted a great many aspects which can lend more credence to their works, as well as a better experience of the story they want to put forward to readers. Additionally, if you want to be considered historically accurate, you must behave as a historian–do you due diligence. Can it always be done? Some things might slip past you. No human is perfect. Try your best. This series is going to help by presenting articles of interest from around the internet and get you started on the research necessary to complete an amazing manuscript.

Extinction

So you have this great plan to write about a hunter in the 1750s. Where is he going to be hunting? Is he in the wilds of Siberia? Perhaps he’s an intrepid explorer delving into the depths of unseen Africa! Whatever you chose, you’ll want to be sure not only that hunters/explorers were going to the place, unless you mean to write about the first guy/gal who did, but you’ll want to make sure that the animals present were actually present. This doesn’t just apply to hundreds of years ago. It applies to modern times and it applies to multiple scenarios.

Say, for instance, you have sequence in which the fair damsel is being courted by fair knight among a menagerie. Depending on the dates of this scene, what might be included in that menagerie is really quite different to say, ten years prior, a hundred years prior, and so on.

Unless you’re writing a science fiction in which these animals have been raised from the dead, Mr. Dodo won’t be sitting there. That’s another interesting point. How about those who want to write a Jules Verne style steampunk who deals with a scientist that does raise extinct specimens from the dead? Or, perhaps, you’re highlighting a breeding program to prevent the extinction of species.

There are lots of reasons why you’d need to delve into the scientific realm for your work. Check out this article on extinct animals up to this year. Sadly, my Eastern Cougar tops the list for 2015. Rest in peace, Kitty. We tried. I am so so sorry.

Fish, birds, mammals, reptiles — they all made this list, sadly, of extinct animals we’ve lost in the last 100 years.

Well, duh! I know that.

Most writers will take for granted a great many aspects that can lend more credence to their works, as well as a better experience of the story they want to put forward to readers. Additionally, if you want to be considered historically accurate, you must behave as a historian–do your due diligence. Can it always be done? Some things might slip past you. No human is perfect. Try your best. This series is going to help by presenting articles of interest from around the internet and get you started on the research necessary to complete an amazing manuscript.

Etymology

We’ve all been there. Writing along at a pace that can’t be stalled, the words flow from our proverbial pens onto the page with the ease of water filling a glass. The euphoria is energizing and before we know it, we’ve written umpteen pages. They sound good. Really good! That sweet moment quickly descends into self doubt. The euphoria fades into stress. The moment is lost. Then we get some feedback and it confirms our fears. We’ve made some awful mistakes. Mistakes glare back at us from the page, making us feel like we should just quit before we completely embarrass ourselves.

You’re not alone. Most writers experience this crushing self doubt. This series is here to help other writer learn what I have learned to avoid the worry and stress.

How can we as writers avoid mistakes, let alone doubts? I’m not certain of the answer in all cases, but I do have a tip that will work for Historical Fiction Writers. In a way, it can inform the process of authors in other genres, too. Make less mistakes by being proactive. Be honest with yourself, and make a list of all the things that you consistently mess up. Each time you pen a new work, when you are ready to go over it, you’ll know what to look for and you can fix the mistakes before someone sees.

What if I don’t know what my mistakes are? Research, as I have stated many times before, can take various forms. These forms are often unexpected. We take many things for granted as we weave our words on the page. One of those things is etymology and it can help you to avoid embarrassing faux pas in the future. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as follows:

etymology: nounet·y·mol·o·gyˌe-tə-ˈmä-lə-jē: an explanation of where a word came from : the history of a word: the study of word histories.

So, you can assume where this entry is headed by the definition. You might ask yourself, now I have to study linguistics? This is getting to be too much! Take heart, dear writer. For the most part, you do this automatically. No one says forsooth today, for instance. Although, they might, cause it’s fun! You know a lot about what words were used when. You just don’t know them all by heart.

In the first edition of OP-DEC, there were a couple of oopses that I made. One was likening Carroll Healey to a serial killer. The term serial killer didn’t exist until the 1970s. Oops! I took for granted an every day term for my era. I admit this to save you the trouble and pain of having your book out there with a similar mistake, which might call into question your credibility as a researcher and historian. It is my fault that I didn’t think to look that term up and make sure it was timely. I had no idea. When in doubt, check it out. I check more often than I have in the past, because now I am aware of this kind of mistake.

Understand, that no book is perfect when it hits the stands. There are many mistakes in all of them. I once read a copy of a beloved classic and nearly threw it across the room for the typos in the text. This is especially upsetting to those of us who are struggling to get published, and the rejections flow in citing typos or grammar as the issue. The audacity of some of these publishers to use that as an excuse can be infuriating. Do they not pay editors? They in fact do, but they seem to be as human as the rest of us and don’t catch everything. The reason that they slush pile you for a typo is because of the sheer numbers of submissions. You’ve got to get edited before submitting. That’s my major tip to you out everything I’ve written about publishing a novel. GET AN EDITOR.

An editor is paid to iron out those typos and grammar mistakes, but they’re also going to check your etymology. You’ll never again, I hope, call someone in a book that takes place before the 70s a serial killer. It was my editor who gave me the tool below to use to verify some words I was using. The thing of it is, though, you’re human. Being human, we don’t always realize that words we use in casual conversation weren’t used in casual conversations a decade ago, last century, or under Caligula.

It is true that we cannot take everything we write and make it historically accurate, otherwise our readers would be unable to read our work. Not many people are around who read Old English, which resembles German more than it does modern English. To be clear with our readers, we make concessions. Then, there is the matter of how absolutely ludicrous something sounds to the modern ear. Again, we make a concession for the sake of the art. Historical Fiction is, after all, fiction. This doesn’t mean we should just write whatever with disregard to the timeliness of the words, but rather that we might have to use something that is timely enough.

Check out the resource below and make sure you add it to your bookmarked tools, if you haven’t already. Google is your friend. You can use it to search online for anything that might not show up here. If you can’t verify a term/words origination, then avoid it to be on the safe side.

Again, if you’re writing something that ignores chronological history for effect (such as comedy or time travel), you can ignore this.